Asian-American Week Kicks Off

In the wake of last week's tragedy at Virginia Tech, some in the Asian-American community worry people will stereotype them negatively. The gunman at Virginia Tech, Cho Seung-Hui, was an Asian-American from South Korea.

"I hope his actions don't reflect upon the community as a whole," MU student Robin Uchiyama said.

"People I've talked to they feel like, ya know, they didn't make that association when they heard the news," said Annie Guo, president of the Asian-American Association.

"The outcome of that was to see if we could get the chancellor to address it in some sort of letter or a note," Guo said.

That note came in the form of a reminder to students that this is Asian-American Awareness week.

The celebration started today with events like samples of Asian cuisine on Lowry Mall.

"This week is really to promote that and to show what it means to be Asian-American, that it really is a combination of both cultures," Guo said.

The group has reworked its schedule for the week to include an event at MU's Speaker's Circle on Wednesday. Members will ask people to sign a bed sheet that they will then send to Virginia Tech saying: "We are all Hokies. We are all one."

Asian-American Awareness Week runs through Saturday night. Guo said the university has been very supportive of the Asian-American community during the past week. The psychology department has offered help to any Asian-American student who wants to discuss issues raised by the massacre.